You don’t have to adopt a whole new diet to eat healthier this year. Simple modifications like adding a handful of berries to your yogurt can go a long way, especially if you know what foods give you the most bang for your buck.

More than just “healthy” foods, superfoods are especially dense in one or multiple types of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and polyphenols.

“They’re considered ‘super’ because they provide a variety of health benefits such as prolonged life, provide you with more energy and reduce and avoid diseases,” said health coach Allison Lellos of Allison Lellos Holistic Wellness in New Hampshire. “Any kind of produce or non-packaged food can be beneficial, but superfoods pack a little extra punch of nutritional benefit.”

What they are

Lellos said many people associate superfoods with exotic or specialty items like matcha and acai, but most superfoods are actually common items that you can find at any grocery store. They may even be a part of your diet already.

Some “staple superfoods” that are commonly available and easy to add to any diet include fruits like blueberries, strawberries, watermelon, tomatoes and avocados; veggies like spinach and kale, lentils and black beans, sweet potatoes, mushrooms and broccoli; and other nutrient-dense foods like quinoa and chia, almonds, oats, garlic, green tea, Greek yogurt and salmon.

“It’s a huge misconception that superfoods are too rare and unattainable or out of our reach. Some of them are right under our noses,” Lellos said.

How to use them

Naturally, it’s easier to pair superfoods with a healthy diet than an unhealthy diet, so the best approach, Lellos said, is to focus on having a healthy and balanced diet first, then work superfoods into that mold. For example, if your goal is to eat five servings of fruits and vegetables every day, think about ways you can fulfill some of those using superfoods. That way, you’re getting the basic benefits of eating a sufficient amount of fruits and vegetables in addition to the benefits from the superfoods.

Also keep in mind that different superfoods provide different kinds of nutrition, so you need to eat a variety of them to reap the full range of health benefits.

“You could get your antioxidants from blueberries or green tea, but your probiotics from Greek yogurt and your iron and calcium from kale,” Lellos said. “They all have different qualities, so it’s important to mix them up. We need a multitude of color on our plates, even with superfood.”

The best strategy for maintaining superfoods in your diet long term, Lellos said, is to make them convenient to use, stick with small changes and keep your diet fresh and exciting.

Try dedicating one day a week to preparing superfoods in bulk so that they’re accessible to you throughout the week and easy to mix and match with your regular meals. You can make things even simpler by planning meals like stir-frys, salads, soups and stews, which are easy to add superfood ingredients to.

One of the perks of superfoods, Lellos said, is that you don’t have to make drastic changes to your diet or come up with elaborate new recipes to get the health benefits. And if you start falling into a rut with the same foods, she said, it’s easy enough to get creative with new ways to use superfoods.